Virtual Teaching of English Courses: Ways to Make it Effective
On September 16, 2020, Ms. Amatul Hafeez Alvi led a workshop on the theme of "Virtual Teaching of English Courses: Ways to Make it Effective". This event, in the format of a webinar, was organized by the Language Research Center at the Faculty of Languages and Translation.
During the session, Alvi laid out the main objectives of the webinar. She highlighted the need for creating interactivity, ensuring the development of reliable online learning experiences, building online connections to enhance the teacher-student relationship, and applying key principles to establish a teaching presence. Additionally, she focused on avoiding practices that could potentially disengage students from the online learning environment.
Alvi stressed the importance of a teacher's proficiency in instructional technology, emphasizing familiarity with devices, internet use, e-content, and resolving issues related to the course website and connectivity. She further accentuated the necessity for teachers to adeptly handle student queries and troubleshoot problems efficiently.
Subsequently, Alvi underscored the importance of the teacher's presence in the online realm. She suggested that teachers could establish their presence by introducing themselves via an introductory video or email. Such steps could reassure students of the teacher's active participation in the course. Alvi further advised the use of both synchronous and asynchronous communication methods for effectively connecting with learners. In addition, she proposed the idea of becoming a reflective teacher, continually evaluating one's performance.
In the latter part of her talk, Alvi discussed fostering communication by serving as a role model, encouraging students to get to know each other, creating a safe learning environment, offering social opportunities, and promoting teamwork. She also noted that clarity and simplicity are paramount in designing an online course. Recognizing different learning styles — such as visual, auditory, and kinesthetic — was equally important to tailor teaching methods accordingly, she added.
Alvi concluded her workshop by encouraging teachers to continuously explore new ideas, using resources such as the internet and interactions with colleagues.
The webinar was highly interactive and was hailed a success, seeing active participation from male and female faculty members from the Bachelor of Arts in English program.
